And though he is undocumented, he has never felt anything but American since his first day of school at age 6.

“I saw kids of all shapes and sizes and all colors putting their hands over their hearts under a flag and that's when I knew that this country was for me,” he said.

But since the Trump administration announced the end of DACA more than a month ago, the program that allows temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors, being a "Dreamer" has turned into a nightmare where deportation is a daily fear.

Still, Tanaka is doing what many "Dreamers" are afraid to do - speak openly - which he does often as co-director of a student run organization that helps immigrants.

Over the lunch with politicians Monday, his message reached an even wider, more influential audience, including Kennedy, who said, “Our politics are cheapening their effort, making our country weaker than it needs to be.”

Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy of Florida, who escaped from communist Vietnam with her parents as a young child, said after the lunch, “You know that behind every single dreamer is a family and they have parents they love.”

She along with Kennedy and other members of Congress are traveling the country to share a meal with undocumented students and families to hear their stories and let them know what is being done to protect them.